The Mask of Zero
by Ahsoka4
Summary: Based off 1998 film, The Mask of Zorro: Kallen seeks revenge for her brother Naoto along with Suzaku, as they are trained by the once great mighty Zero, who also pursues vengeance of his own.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

In 2027, Britannia's domination of Japan was about to come to an end. A people's Rebellion, led by General Julius ti Britannia, spread from the arid mountains of the south to the rich and fertile province known as Shinjiku. The people of Japan gathered in the streets, calling for the blood of the last Britannian Governor, Charles zi Britannia. Although, under orders to return to Britannia by his father, Charles refused to relinquish power without one final reckoning.

* * *

Many and hundreds of people were all gathered in the streets, outside of the building where Charles zi Britannia lived. The crowd was shouting, urging Charles to leave their country at once, demanding the freedom of their land.

Watching from the crowd from a close range where three young children, one about the age of 15 and the other two were about the age of 12. The oldest one was named Naoto Kozuki and the youngest one's were Naoto's little sister, Kallen and young Suzaku Kururugi.

Naoto and Kallen were orphans, wandering the streets and stealing to survive. A while back, their parents had been killed during a riot during an assassination attempt on Charles zi Britannia. Their parents took no part in the riot, they were merely caught up in the chaos.

Suzaku Kururugi had been orphaned since he was 7-years-old after his mother died. Naoto and Kallen found him living in the slums and took him in, teaching him to steal to survive. Suzaku had been the son of Prime Minister Genbu Kururugi, who did everything in his power for equal rights for the people of Japan.

One day, Charles had invited Genbu for dinner that one evening. During their conversation at dinner, Genbu was poisoned when he had been served wine by one of Charles' servants. In truth, Charles had Genbu poisoned as he felt the Prime Minister stood in his way of his goals he hoped to achieve. With Genbu out of the way, nothing could stop him in his quest for power.

Though Suzaku barely knew his father, he eventually learned the truth on his own when he got older and hoped the day would come when Charles would choke his last words.

"Where is he?" Suzaku wondered.

"He sent an invitation to the Governor that he would make him go back to Britannia if he doesn't relinquish power," Kallen said. "There's no way he could back out on this."

"Don't worry, Zero will come," Naoto assured them. "When he does, he'll do what he always does. Humiliate the Governor and order him to head back to Britannia. This is the day he will finally get rid of that monster for good."

* * *

What was happening during the crowd was full of outrage. Charles had ordered his guards to take any of the citizens from the street, 3 at least, and had them tied up on a large podium, had them blindfolded, where they would be awaiting execution.

Appearing outside of the patio from his mansion was Charles zi Britannia himself. The very sight of him was enough to disgust people. The screams and shouts were even louder in the crowd as the guards try to hold everyone back.

The guards pushed the crowd back even more to make room for someone important arriving. Making his away amongst the crowd was Charles' brother. V.V. He quickly made his way into Charles' mansion, heading into his office where he saw him staring at the angry crowd from the patio.

In a panic, V.V. asked, "Charles, my brother. For god sakes, why are you still here?"

"And why shouldn't I be?" Charles questioned calmly. "More importantly, why are you in such a rush? Is there something we should be afraid of?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," V.V. told his brother. "You know how ruthless our father can be, even if it's his own children. Our father's men are three miles from the sector. You have to leave at once, brother."

Turning to his brother, Charles replied, "The government of Britannia would like to thank you for your devoted services." He gestured at the papers on his table as V.V. took them to read what they had to say.

Shocked from what he read, V.V. asked, "How did you do this? Just how did you manage to claim this land as the property of the Britannian government."

Charles made a sinister grin. "I have my ways of persuading people. More importantly, the Japanese will only be able to claim this land unless I hand it back to them, which I have no intension of doing. I manage to get a good deal out of our father and he has decided to let me, you and the aristocrats to keep this land for ourselves. I also manage to divide this land into eleven sectors, which we and the rest of the aristocrats get rule over. I myself will rule over Sector 11."

V.V. found himself stunned and yet satisfied the deal Charles manage to get in order to keep the land of Japan. For once, everything was going their way and they had nothing to worry about.

* * *

However, they were unaware of the masked avenger known as Zero was watching everything transpiring from the shadows.

Zero was an infamous masked warrior who was a nuisance to the Britannian government. He was also the sworn enemy of Charles zi Britannia, who had vowed to destroy Zero. Every attempt failed and each time, Zero thwarted all of Charles' schemes, all of them that resulted in his humiliation.

While Zero was a champion to the people of Japan, the most ironic part was the Zero was not even Japanese himself. In fact, he was a Britannian. The real identity of Zero was Charles' own son, Lelouch vi Britannia.

Even though he was raised in the royal family, Lelouch could no longer tolerate all the crimes and schemes he pulled on the people of Japan. In order to stop his father, he only pretended to agree with his ideas as he secretly worked behind the scenes, using the family's fortune to build himself a secret lair, training in secret in the art of swordsmanship and training his body as well.

The more Lelouch humiliated his father, the more he fell out of favor with Julius ti Britannia, Lelouch's grandfather. After all, why should his grandfather trust his father when he couldn't even handle one man? As Zero carefully plotted his next move, he knew this one humiliating defeat would be enough to disgrace his father so bad that he will have no chance but to give Japan back to its own people.

When he saw the guards making their move, Zero knew now was the time to take action.

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I would like to confirm that I do not own the film, "The Mask of Zorro" as it is the property of film director, Martin Campbell and I do not own "Code Geass" as well since that also happens to be the property of Goro Taniguchi.**

 **Notice: Just to let you all know, this is based off the 1998 film of our favorite sword swinging black caped crusader. There are a few differences and changes I made myself and I do hope you enjoy this version of the story and I look forward to hearing your reviews.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As the crowd kept protesting the outrage of having 3 men executed for no reason, all Naoto, Kallen and Suzaku could do was watch. By now, Zero should have showed up by now. But he was nowhere to be seen. Suzaku found himself growing impatient.

"We can't just sit by and let this happen," Suzaku told the Kozuki siblings. "What if we…"

"Help out!" Naoto told Suzaku. "Just what exactly do you think we can do. We're only kids. The only thing we'd succeed at is getting us killed."

"Brother, how is 3 kids against one man like Zero any different?" Kallen questioned.

"It's different from us because Zero is trained to kill and was born with a genius intellect to outsmart his enemies," Naoto explained to his sister. "We don't have what Zero has. That's why he always emerges victorious against the Britannian Empire. All we can do is wait. Trust me. Zero will get here in no time."

Feeling helpless as they watched these events happening, Suzaku saw something in the corner of an alley where no one was even looking. He saw a figure wearing a purple suit with golden stripes, long wrapped sleeves and a grilled white cravat. The outfit had that of a Victorian fashion with that of a sleek bodysuit, worn with a black and gold cloak with crimson spandex lining the inside and an enormous black cape encircling his head. The mask the figure wore was black and indigo, spiky with a large visor circle that no one could see through, keeping his identity safe.

Realizing who it was, Suzaku quickly and quietly alerted Kallen and Naoto. "I saw Zero. Look. He's over there."

Trying to glimpse of where Suzaku was pointing, Kallen and Naoto happen to notice the same figure. Indeed, it was Zero. He was secretly scaling the walls as he plotted to make his next move to stop the execution of the 3 innocent men.

"I wonder what he plans to do?" Kallen wondered.

"Whatever it is, it's got to be good," Naoto figured. "Let's get a better view of the show from the top of the buildings."

As they headed to one of the buildings, Suzaku thought to himself, "I know you can do it, Zero. Make sure Charles zi Britannia knows that he has no right to step foot over this country and rule over us."

Making it to the top of the building they were on, the trio watched as three soldiers marched amongst the crowd as their Captain gave them their orders. Loading up their guns and getting them ready, the 3 innocent stood up front on the poles they were tied onto, waiting for their lives to end.

* * *

Puzzled on who the 3 men were that were being executed, V.V. asked, "Just who are these men that you've got out of your way to execute, brother? Are they spies or radicals hoping to ambush you?"

Charles merely laughed a bit. "Not precisely. I don't even know who they are. They're nothing but peasants I ordered the soldiers to pull from the crowd."

* * *

With the soldiers ready to open fire on the 3 men, the trio were all holding their breath, wondering why Zero hasn't taken action.

"Please, Zero," Kallen whispered to herself. "We're all depending on you. There's no way you would let this happen."

Just when the Britannian soldiers were about to open fire, something happened unexpectedly. Flying towards their way, a couple of metallic claw-like devices strapped right on the Britannian Soldier's guns. What happen next, the devices blew up in the soldier's face, killing them.

Shocked by what happen, everyone saw him appear from the top of the building next to them. He jumped and landed on the podium where the 3 men were. The crowd cheered at the sight of Japan's mightiest warrior. Even Naoto, Kallen and Suzaku cheered for Zero.

Then more Britannian soldiers came charging towards Zero with their swords drawn out. Zero drew out his own sword that had a fancy-look to it. It was a sword of his own design. First thing he did was fight off the soldiers while he freed the 3 imprisoned men all at the same time. He cut the ropes off and kept his guard, parrying the soldier's attacks.

Now that the 3 imprisoned men were free as they fleed, one soldier charged at Zero, attempting to strike him. Seeing the soldier come at him with anger, Zero kept his cool and easy blocked his attack and throw the soldier at his companion.

Two more soldiers came at Zero from both sides. One would believe attacking one man from both sides would give them the advantage. However, Zero taught himself to prepare himself from such a thing. Even though they attacked him from both sides, Zero went from one side to the other, blocking the soldiers swords. He didn't even need 2 sword for this fight. Doing this felt so natural to Zero.

However, he couldn't afford to take any risk as he opened up the trap door from the podium to get away underneath. When the soldiers were making attempts to chase him through the trap door, he saw an opportunity and kicked the two soldiers down, earning a laugh from the crowd since Zero enjoyed humiliating the Britannian soldiers.

Two more Britannian soldiers appeared and took on Zero at the same time. Putting one hand behind his back, Zero fought the soldiers with one arm. The style he was using was an old-fashioned fencing move where one had to keep himself in his circle without moving. The crowd watched amazed as the Britannian soldiers kept sword fighting Zero, but failed to make him even budge. It looked like this whole fight was child's play for Zero.

When Zero decided to move, he kicked the first Britannian soldier down and the second Britannian soldier, he managed to knock his sword out of his hands and struck him through the chest, killing him. Then, another Britannian soldier appeared from the shadows to ambush Zero. Unfortunately, that failed to work as Zero stepped aside, tripping the soldier as he fell into a card-carrying fish.

Naoto, Kallen and Suzaku were enjoying every moment of what Zero was doing, cutting down the Britannian soldiers and making them look like a joke. They watched as Zero took on three men. This has been their first time the trio saw Zero in action with his sword skills. From the rumors they were told, it was implied Zero was the greatest swordsman. And from the fights they were witnessing, they were starting to believe it. The man already defeated 10 soldiers so far.

As Zero fought the 3 men, he had no idea a trap had been set for him. With a headpiece gear hidden in his ear, Charles silently gave his men their orders. A group of soldiers, who received Charles' orders, were hidden on the second floor of the building as they got into position and were ready to jump out the windows to ambush and shoot Zero.

Taking notice of the soldiers, that Suzaku could see clearly through the clear windows, he quickly informed Naoto and Kallen. "Check it out, guys. Looks like Zero's in trouble."

Getting his binoculars, Naoto looked to the other side of the building and could get a good glimpse of the soldiers. "Damn. Obviously, Charles' had this all planned out. We need to act quickly before they attack Zero."

"Hold on," Kallen spoke. "On the way up here, I saw a crate full of these things called Nano bombs."

"Nano bombs," Naoto repeated, knowing full well what those weapons were capable of. "Perfect. We can aim them at the soldiers and catch them off guard. Hurry while Zero has some time."

The trio quickly ran downstairs as they retrieved the Nano bombs in the room Kallen spotted them in. Getting what they needed, Naoto stuck the tiny Nano bombs into cannon-like gun and took aim at the soldiers. Having them in sight, he opened fire.

Shooting the gun at the soldiers, it almost looked like nothing came out of the gun. However, that was the point of the Nano bombs. Whenever someone fired them, they had the tendency to break into tiny particles that no one could see them. Waiting to see what happens, the Britannian soldiers were suddenly caught off guard as the room they were in exploded around them as they jumped off the building and fell into the crowd.

Taking notice of the soldiers who fell out from the building, Zero realized Charles' must have been set them up to ambush him. Looking to who might have caused the explosion, he noticed Naoto, Kallen and Suzaku on top of the other building, as they cheered for Zero. Zero saluted them for their help as he continued to fight off the three Britannian soldiers he was dealing with.

The three Britannian soldiers try to gang up on Zero with their swords, but he blocked all of them at once. When the soldiers were about to attack again, they were distracted when the people started throwing food at them. This gave Zero the opportunity to get away. From the top of his patio, Charles' was fuming with anger that his plan to kill Zero had failed once more. If his father hears about this, he will no doubt be stripped of his title and be forced to return to Britannia.

Everyone in the crowd cheered for Zero, chanting his name as the soldiers gave chase on him. However, the people got in the soldier's way, allowing Zero to escape.

* * *

Cheering from the rooftop, the trio were caught by surprise of who stood behind them. It was Zero himself. They couldn't believe Japan's greatest warrior was standing right before them.

"What you 3 did was very brave," Zero told them. "You have my gratitude. Also, I would like to give you all something." Zero pulled out from his pocket three medallions. Each one was different. Naoto was given a silver medallion with a ruby jewel in the middle, Kallen a golden medallion, and Suzaku a white medallion that had diamonds covered in it.

Amazed by the gift Zero gave them, Suzaku replied, "Thank you, Zero. We were glad to be of help to you."

Zero nodded and said, "Take care of those medallions and cherish them. Never trade them for anything else. Right now, if you will excuse me, I have some business to deal with our Governor."

Pulling out a device, Zero shot it as a silver hook came out and attached itself to the next building and Zero swung across the crowd as the hook dragged him towards the building the hook snatched itself on. Soldiers made attempts to shoot Zero as he swung across the crowd, but the people pushed them to ruin aim.

* * *

Spotting where Charles' was, Zero shot his hook weapon at the next building as he swung towards the mansion to confront Japan's so called Governor. When V.V. saw Zero coming their way, he decided to leave Charles' to defend himself. In his opinion, only a fool would be dumb enough to think they were brave enough to take on Zero.

Desperate to get rid of his masked warrior, Charles' shouted, "KILL HIM!" The soldiers fired on Zero to stop him from reaching Charles', but they all missed. However, one bullet did graze Zero on his right arm, but it was nothing.

Reaching the mansion, Zero landed right in front of Charles' zi Britannia himself as he pulled out his sword and pointed it towards his neck. "You must be desperate, Governor. To think you would stoop this low to kill 3 innocent men to capture me. It's pathetic."

"Fool!" Charles' spat. "If I had everything my way, I would murder 100 innocent men if it meant killing you."

"Is that so," replied Zero, cutting a Z symbol on Charles' neck. "You'd be wise not to do so. Otherwise the next time I see you, you will end up paying for your life. I suggest you return back to Britannia, Governor. The people have made themselves clear on that. After what happened here, I'm sure his Majesty will fall out of favor with you. Once you leave, never return here again."

Snapping his fingers, coming from the crowd was Zero's horse. He was a black horse, a very fierce one that was hard to trained. However, Zero was able to tame this animal as it came to help him on his escape. The black horse that aided Zero was named Zangetsu.

Jumping from the patio, Zero landed on Zangetsu as they rode off together through the crowd, people still cheering, especially Naoto, Kallen and Suzaku. Riding up the hill top and looking at the crowd of people who cheered for him, Zero saluted them as he held up his sword high. This would be Zero's last ride. With Charles' forced back to Britannia, the people of Japan can finally have their land back.

* * *

Naoto, Kallen and Suzaku watched Zero take off into the sunset. At the same time, they felt very sad. They finally met Japan's defender and now this would be the last time they will ever see him.

"I guess that's it," Naoto figured. "After everything that's happened, Zero won't be needed anymore."

"That's true," young Kallen agreed. "Wish we could have asked him who he was. I would have like to thank the man behind the mask."

"Even if this is his last day, we still have these to remember him by," Suzaku reminded them, looking at the medallions Zero gave them.

As Zero disappeared from their sights, they gave the masked warrior one final salute.


End file.
